Pallas Capital Advisors LLC Has $7.95 Million Stock Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Pallas Capital Advisors LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 1.1% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 15,098 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 162 shares during the period. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $7,950,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of MA. Highline Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Mastercard during the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new position in shares of Mastercard in the second quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Mastercard during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $35,000. First Personal Financial Services bought a new position in Mastercard in the 3rd quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Mastercard by 74.0% in the third quarter. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 87 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Mastercard from $580.00 to $618.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $575.00 price target (up from $565.00) on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Macquarie boosted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $505.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Mastercard from $533.00 to $567.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their target price on Mastercard from $515.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Mastercard currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $566.13.

Mastercard Stock Performance

MA stock opened at $505.27 on Tuesday. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1-year low of $425.48 and a 1-year high of $537.70. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $524.08 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $492.75. The firm has a market cap of $463.75 billion, a PE ratio of 38.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.73 by $0.16. Mastercard had a return on equity of 178.27% and a net margin of 45.26%. The business had revenue of $7.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.27 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.39 EPS. Mastercard’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 9th will be given a dividend of $0.76 per share. This is an increase from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.60%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.00%.

Mastercard declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Tuesday, December 17th that authorizes the company to repurchase $12.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the credit services provider to purchase up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Mastercard Profile

Mastercard Incorporated, a technology company, provides transaction processing and other payment-related products and services in the United States and internationally. The company offers integrated products and value-added services for account holders, merchants, financial institutions, digital partners, businesses, governments, and other organizations, such as programs that enable issuers to provide consumers with credits to defer payments; payment products and solutions that allow its customers to access funds in deposit and other accounts; prepaid programs services; and commercial credit, debit, and prepaid payment products and solutions.